Cosmic Radiation and Cancer

Abstract

An expt. is descr. which involved the attempt to intensify cosmic radiation effects by means of various combinations of lead plates and the comparison of the rate of carcinogenesis in mice receiving the intensified cosmic radiation with the rate of carcinogenesis in mice receiving non-intensified (normal) cosmic radiation. The rate of induction of cancer in mice kept under the lead plates was found to be consistently and definitely higher than that in the controls. All the mice had been injected with methyl -cholanthrene. It is suggested that the cosmic radiation is intensified by production of showers or bursts of ionizing radiations occurring when the rays pass through the thin metal plates, and that the methylcholanthrene induces cancer by converting some of the energy of the cosmic radiation into carcinogenic stimuli.